Careers•
on January 8th, 2010•
Imagine having a boss who encourages you to play games during the workday. It’s a reality for many people in the video game industry, including Todd Howard. At midday on a recent Friday, he was playing Fallout 3 in his office. When Howard, 39, first started at Bethesda Softworks in Rockville, Md., 15 years ago, his parents told him to have a backup plan.
He didn’t need one. Now he’s the company’s game director. Howard oversaw the creation of Fallout 3, a popular coming-of-age video game. As he demonstrates the game to a visitor on his Xbox 360, his avatar, a 10-year-old boy, is treated to a birthday party.
“For our company, there are certain areas where we are hiring very aggressively because we are growing rapidly,” Howard says. The recession forced some game studios to close or make sizable layoffs. But ZeniMax nearly doubled in size during the past year, growing from about 250 employees to more than 400, in part owing to its acquisition of iD Software. Finding a job in the video game industry is a dream come true for many people who grew up playing games on computers and consoles. And the field is swiftly expanding as people turn to mobile devices like the iPhone and social networking sites like Facebook for entertainment.
Emerging From Adolescence
Analysts and developers point to a common thread: The entire video game universe is maturing.”I’d say game industries are sort of coming out of their adolescence,” says Drew Davidson, the director of the entertainment technology center at Carnegie Mellon University. “They’re in their late teens and so there’s still a lot of growing to do.” Game Developer Research says there are about 45,000 total employees in the U.S. video game industry, with an average salary of close to $80,000. Salaries can reach into the six figures, and programmers are among the highest-paid. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment for computer software engineers, some of whom develop video games, will grow by nearly a third in the next decade.
Video Gaming Degrees
Davidson says colleges around the country are tuned in. “We’re seeing a huge upswing in terms of universities trying to offer degrees that focus around games or interactive media … just because they’re so popular.” More than 200 institutions from MIT to DigiPen Institute of Technology are offering courses or degrees in video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group for the video game industry.
“The U.S. is the No. 1 video game market in the world,” says Michael Gallagher, the chief executive officer for the ESA. “So, here at home we have a very strong market for employment in video games.” The hubs for the industry include Austin, Texas; Boston; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; North Carolina; and the Washington, D.C., metro area.
The job market is growing because of mainstream demand. Just look around — you can see people of all ages playing games on mobile phones. Social networking games are also wildly popular on Facebook. Some of the companies focused on this niche include Playdom, Playfish and Zynga, which created the popular game Farmville. Broadband access and new digital distribution channels for games have also made it possible for small teams to develop games by working out of a coffee shop or someone’s garage, Davidson says.
A Casual Culture
Howard, of Bethesda Softworks, says people also want jobs in the video game industry because a day at the office is casual — not corporate. “Sometimes I equate it to an organized fraternity,” Howard says. “We play games at lunch, we have a giant movie theater in the building, we have a pool table, [and] we have multiple video game setups.”
They also have their own chef. So, employees effectively live at the office. It’s an industry that values creative collaborations among artists, designers and programmers. The majority of jobs are full time with benefits, and it’s a fluid career with people moving across the country, or the world, to take on new projects. But recruiter Mary-Margaret Walker says these patterns may change. “I think we will see more consulting and more contracting and more virtual working,” Walker says.
That means video game development teams may no longer work and play in the same physical space. At the Bethesda Softworks headquarters, Howard works near his team of nearly 100 developers. With an Xbox 360 controller in his hands, he says, “The greatest feeling in the world is making a game and then going to the store and seeing somebody buy it. It’s very special.”
The journey from start to finish for a big console game can easily take about three years and cost more than $100 million. These high stakes — and new gaming platforms — are among the reasons smaller, independent companies are taking root to produce games for the future.
Adapted from NPR.org by Todd Borghesani
Science•
on January 5th, 2010•
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is theoretical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter. As important as dark matter is believed to be in the universe, direct evidence of its existence and a concrete understanding of its nature have remained elusive.
Unsolved problems in physics: What is dark matter? How is it generated? Is it related to supersymmetry?
Can we use Dark Matter as an Energy Source for Rocket Technology?
Current rocket technology can not send the spaceship very far, because the amount of the chemical fuel it can take is limited. Dark matter (DM) may be used as fuel to solve this problem. A DM engine uses dark matter annihilation products as propulsion. The acceleration is proportional to the velocity, which makes the velocity increase exponentially with time in non-relativistic region. The important points for the acceleration are how dense is the DM density and how large is the saturation region. The parameters of the spaceship may also have great influence on the results. We show that the (sub)halos can accelerate the spaceship to velocity $ 10^{- 5} c \sim 10^{- 3} c$.
3D Model of dark matter, reconstructed from measurements of weak gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Written by Todd Borghesani
Aerospace, Science•
on January 5th, 2010•
NASA internships are a perfect way to launch your future. Most people do not realize how many types of scientific and engineering specialties are employed by the Agency. The great people at NASA really care about your “real world” education. Do not hesitate to apply!
NASA Ames Summer 2010 Graduate Student Internship Programs
The Systems Teaching Institute is offering a 10- to 12-week summer research program for graduate students in fields relevant to the research done at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. Selected students will gain hands-on experience working with cutting-edge research and development teams, an increased understanding of the NASA mission, and mentoring in research management skills. Besides working closely with Ames scientists and engineers, students will have the opportunity to attend seminars tailored to their level of expertise, career development workshops, and an end-of-summer symposium where they can share their results with other student interns. Awards (in the form of travel support to a national conference) will be given for the best symposium poster presentations.
For further information about this opportunity, visit http://uarc.ucsc.edu/sti/grad_10.shtml. Questions regarding this opportunity may be submitted by e-mail to Dr. Natalie Batalha at nbatalha@science.sjsu.edu or Amy Gilbert at amy.gilbert@adm.ucsc.edu.
2010 NASA Planetary Biology Internship
The NASA Planetary Biology Internship Program provides opportunities each year for 10 interns to undertake research at NASA research centers, NASA-sponsored laboratories, and academic institutions. The pursuit of such studies is expected to broaden the base of this new science by encouraging people in many different fields to take part. Applicants must be enrolled in graduate school.
Students accepted in the PBI program will be expected to carry out research with a NASA-sponsored investigator for eight weeks, usually during the summer months. Typical programs in which interns may become involved include: global ecology and remote sensing; microbial ecology and bio-mineralization; advanced life support; and origin and early evolution of life.
Applications are due Feb. 15, 2010. For more information, visit http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/other_programs/pbi.html . Please e-mail questions about this opportunity to Michael Dolan at pbi@geo.umass.edu.
2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
Caltech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships, or SURF, project introduces undergraduate students to research under the guidance of seasoned mentors at Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Students experience the process of research as a creative intellectual activity and gain a more realistic view of the opportunities and demands of a professional research career.
Please e-mail any questions about this opportunity to the Caltech Student-Faculty Programs office at sfp@caltech.edu.
Written by Todd Borghesani
I know what you are thinking. A farmer? Is this really a great career move? In a word, yes. I’m not talking about moving to Indiana and driving a tractor for the rest of your life, though. I’m talking about becoming an elite urban farmer, creating a technology and science driven enterprise that uses run-down urban properties and advanced hydroponic systems. Then add a Ph.D. in botany — the scientific study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance. I’m talking about creating a future-proof career, a sustainable future and a great business.
Urban farming is farming in an urban setting. Why would anyone do such a thing? Simply put, urban farming alleviates many of the problems caused by conventional agriculture. Food produced today is less nutritious, has more chemicals and is genetically altered for shelf life – not taste or nutrition. Would you like some Dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) in your salad? Neither would we. A distinct advantage of urban farms is that they give you control over a city’s food supply. Urban farms have the freedom to grow heirloom varieties that greatly surpass store-bought produce in both taste and nutrition.
The population of the entire Baltimore-Washington Metroplex as of 2007 is 8,241,912. If each person comsumes an average of two lbs of food per day, and no food is produced within the city, then over 16 million pounds of food must be trucked or flown into our region each and every day. The amount of carbon emissions associated with this are staggering. Billions of tons of carbon emissions are emitted during the production and transportation of food. The average vegetable travels 1,434 miles before reaching our plates. With urban farming, food is produced where it will be consumed, greatly reducing the embodied carbon footprint of vegetable produce.
Careers, Learning, People•
on December 30th, 2009•
Career Experts Say Positions in Growing Fields Will Require an In-Demand Degree Coupled With Skills in Emerging Trends.
If you’re gearing up for a job search now as an undergraduate or returning student, there are several bright spots where new jobs and promising career paths are expected to emerge in the next few years.
Technology, health care and education will continue to be hot job sectors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ outlook for job growth between 2008 and 2018. But those and other fields will yield new opportunities, and even some tried-and-true fields will bring some new jobs that will combine a variety of skill sets.
The degrees employers say they’ll most look for include finance, engineering and computer science, says Andrea Koncz, employment-information manager at the National Association of Colleges and Employers. But to land the jobs that will see some of the most growth, job seekers will need to branch out and pick up secondary skills or combine hard science study with softer skills, career experts say, which many students already are doing. “Students are positioned well for future employment, particularly in specialized fields,” Ms. Koncz says.
Career experts say the key to securing jobs in growing fields will be coupling an in-demand degree with expertise in emerging trends. For example, communications pros will have to master social media and the analytics that come with it; nursing students will have to learn about risk management and electronic records; and techies will need to keep up with the latest in Web marketing, user-experience design and other Web-related skills.
Technology Twists
More than two million new technology-related jobs are expected to be created by 2018, according to the BLS. Jobs that are expected to grow faster than average include computer-network administrators, data-communications analysts and Web developers. Recruiters anticipate that data-loss prevention, information technology, online security and risk management will also show strong growth.
A computer-science degree and a working knowledge of data security are critical to landing these jobs. Common areas of undergraduate study for these fields include some of the usual suspects, such as computer science, information science and management-information systems.
Social Media
But those might not be enough. That’s because not all of those jobs will be purely techie in nature. David Foote, chief executive officer of IT research firm Foote Partners, advises current computer-science students to couple their degrees with studies in marketing, accounting or finance. “Before, people widely believed that all you needed to have were deep, nerdy skills,” Mr. Foote says. “But companies are looking for people with multiple skill sets who can move fluidly with marketing or operations.”
Social media has opened the door to the growth of new kinds of jobs. As companies turn to sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to promote their brands, capture new customers and even post job openings, they will need to hire people skilled in harnessing these tools, Mr. Foote says. In most cases, these duties will be folded into a marketing position, although large companies such as Coca-Cola Co. are creating entire teams devoted exclusively to social media.
Energy Technologies
Not surprisingly, green technology, including solar and wind energy and green construction, are also booming areas. Engineers who can mastermind high-voltage electric grids, for example, will have a great advantage over other job applicants, says Greg Netland, who oversees recruiting for the U.S., Latin America and Canada for Sapphire Technologies, an IT staffing firm in Woburn, Mass. that is a division of Randstad.
“Global sustainability will become more important to employers,” Mr. Netland says. “It cuts costs, making experts in the field highly attractive to employers.”
Jobs in alternative-energy systems, including wind and solar energy, will require a variety of skills: engineers to design systems, consultants who will audit companies’ existing energy needs, and those who will install and maintain the systems.
Hospital Upgrades
Health care is expected to continue to see a surge in hiring, with more than four million new openings estimated by 2018, according to the BLS. Hiring for physical and occupational therapists will likely be strongest. But new specialties are popping up, particularly in case management, says Brad Ellis, a partner with Kaye Bassman International, an executive-search firm based in Plano, Texas.
Case managers do everything from managing the flow of information between practitioner and insurance company to mitigating risk to the hospital. “If you’re a licensed nurse, for example, getting a certificate in risk management from the state board of health would make you extremely competitive,” Mr. Ellis says.
Harris Miller, president of the Career College Association in Washington, D.C., says IT will be increasingly important in the quest to drive down health-care costs, too. Students specializing in nursing informatics, which combines general nursing with computer and information sciences, at the master’s degree level will swap a clipboard for a smart phone to manage patient data. Schools like Vanderbilt University are offering nursing informatics degrees via distance learning, and certification is offered through American Nurses Credentialing Center, based in Silver Springs, Md.
The strong push toward making medical records and information more accessible through computerized record-keeping means opportunity, Mr. Miller says. “This is going to require people who are skilled in the hardware and software of nursing informatics.”
Soon, you may be able to find information about almost any physical object with the click of a smartphone. Imagine working on augmented reality applications that change that way we use our intelligence; that augment our intelligence. Careers in this area include human computer interaction, computer science, computer vision and biomemetics.
This vision, once the stuff of science fiction, took a significant step forward this month when Google unveiled a smartphone application called Goggles. It allows users to search the Web, not by typing or by speaking keywords, but by snapping an image with a cellphone and feeding it into Google’s search engine.
How tall is that mountain on the horizon? Snap and get the answer. Who is the artist behind this painting? Snap and find out. What about that stadium in front of you? Snap and see a schedule of future games there.
Goggles, in essence, offers the promise to bridge the gap between the physical world and the Web.
Goggles is not the first application to try to create a link between the physical and virtual worlds via cellphones. A variety of so-called augmented-reality applications like World Surfer and Wikitude allow you to point your cellphone or its camera and find information about landmarks, restaurants and shops in front of you. Yet those applications typically rely on location data, matching information from maps with a cellphone’s GPS and compass data. Another class of applications reads bar codes to link objects or businesses with online information about them.
Goggles also uses location information to help identify objects, but its ability to recognize millions of images opens up new possibilities. “This is a big step forward in terms of making it work in all these different kinds of situations,” said Jason Hong, a professor at the Human Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
When you snap a picture with Goggles, Google spends a few seconds analyzing the image, then sends it up to its vast “cloud” of computers and tries to match it against an index of more than a billion images. Google’s data centers distribute the image-matching problem among hundreds or even thousands of computers to return an answer quickly.
It’s not hard to imagine a slew of commercial applications for this technology. You could compare prices of a product online, learn how to operate that old water heater whose manual you have lost or find out about the environmental record of a certain brand of tuna. But Goggles and similar products could also tell the history of a building, help travelers get around in a foreign country or even help blind people navigate their surroundings.
It is also easy to think of scarier possibilities down the line. Google’s goal to recognize every image, of course, includes identifying people. Computer scientists say that it is much harder to identify faces than objects, but with the technology and computing power improving rapidly, improved facial recognition may not be far off.
Mr. Gundotra says that Google already has some facial-recognition capabilities, but that it has decided to turn them off in Goggles until privacy issues can be resolved. “We want to move with great discretion and thoughtfulness,” he said.
Find the original article posted on the NY Times
Science•
on December 8th, 2009•
Greenhouse gas-sucking rubber ducks could be in the future. Myriant Technologies LLC has just won U.S. Department of Energy funding of up to $50 million to construct a new plant that will produce Succinic Acid from sorghum, using a biobased process that is more energy efficient than conventional methods, and also absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces.
Until now, petroleum has been the feedstock of choice to manufacture Succinic Acid. If commercially successful, a more sustainable biobased process like Myriant’s could have a significant impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, because Succinic Acid is used in a fantastic variety of materials from non-toxic diesel fuel additives, pharmaceuticals and food to plastic car parts, computer casings, and shoe soles.
by Tina Casey
Science•
on December 8th, 2009•
Batteries made from plain copier paper could make for future energy storage that is truly paper thin. The approach relies on the use of carbon nanotubes – tiny cylinders of carbon – to collect electric charge. While small-scale nanotube batteries have been demonstrated before, the plain paper approach lends itself to making larger devices more cheaply.
The work, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to “paintable” energy storage.
Because of its structure of millions of tiny, interconnected fibres, paper is a good candidate to hold on to carbon nanotubes, providing a scaffold on which to build devices.
However, paper is also mechanically tough, and can be bent, curled or folded, more than the metal or plastic surfaces that are currently used or under development.
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